“I don’t think the win created stress; I think it was just that I was so in deep and Auto Club just ended up creating the perfect circumstances for us to do what we did,” Smith recalled. “That race was actually the very first race on the new Cup Series package last year. A lot of the teams didn’t know what they were doing with the car yet. We didn’t have that long to test on it … but we hit on something with the setup.
“Honestly, we got lucky with the car because we only had a couple hours in the setup. That version was version 1.0, and we went out and we beat Keegan and beat Zack with it. That was just a lot of luck, in reality,” he continued. “From there, I already knew at that point I wasn’t going to win the series by putting two hours a week into a car. I knew it would need a lot more work and a lot more knowhow, and I think the stress was just coming from feeling I could do it, but I just didn’t have all the answers or all the right pieces in place.
“It was just frustrating to lose. You don’t want to lose; you don’t want to run 35th every week or 30th,” Smith pointed out. “Running that low when you know you’re coming off the heels of a third-place points run in Road to Pro or running really well in the Pro season, that’s not easy. Getting that win told me I was good enough, but I just needed to have the right stuff around me.”
That “right stuff” came in the form of a draft order by Beaver and teammate Michael Guariglia, Smith’s college roommate and longtime friend who was drafted alongside him into Jim Beaver eSports.
Their common chemistry and friendship is something Guariglia feels has benefited both himself and Smith as they’ve navigated the eNASCAR iRacing World Championship.
“We live together and have known each other about three years, now,” Guariglia said. “We’ve just been able to build off that as friends, coworkers, and all that kind of stuff. We have that rapport with each other that we’ve kind of built on, and I think that’s only gotten better now that we’re sim teammates. It’s cool to have that, knowing that we’ve had this connection for so long and now we can build on it in a whole different way.
“I think it’s been good for both of us, really.”
The numbers for Smith right now may only show one victory, but that’s one win more than many of his contemporaries have, and he’s hoping it’s a win that’s a harbinger of things to come.
“I feel like I’m just as good as any other driver in the series, if not better,” Smith noted. “With this team around me, I know I can find a way to get it done. That’s something I’ve had to learn, for sure, and it’s got me optimistic for what’s to come this season.”